![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Seniors work towards their “abs for Laguna”
Andrew Gu (12) does a pullup in a basketball court. Many seniors try to get fit, seriously or ironically using the hashtag “#absforlaguna.”
March 28, 2017
With college apps completed, seniors have begun preparing for the upcoming class trip to Laguna Beach. Some students are making concerted efforts in their exercise and diet regimens prior to the trip.
Seniors Kedar Gupta, Peter Wu, Srivatsav Pyda, Aashish Jain, Rahul Shukla, Rishabh Nijhawan, Arnav Tandon and Shasvat Jawahar have been doing the “5 day split” workout at YMCA in Cupertino.
“Each day we do two sets of an ab workout and then we workout a specific body part, whether it be legs, arms, back, shoulders or chest, on a rotation,” Rahul said.
The students have been following this regimen since early January.
“One day I just saw Rahul, and I saw the dedication he had, and it just motivated me to just push myself and push my limits in a way that I didn’t think was possible,” Srivatsav said.
Many seniors are working out in order to achieve “abs for Laguna.” Rahul discussed methods for overcoming unhealthy habits while eating.
“You’ve got to think of the superior goal,” he said. “You think about that, and you can overcome any obstacle.”
Srivatsav drew inspiration from Rahul to overcome unhealthy eating habits and to be motivated when working out.
“Everytime that we eat, Rahul always makes me stick to my diet,” he said. “We try to cut down on carbs; a couple days ago we went to Mongolian Barbeque and I really wanted to get the noodles, but Rahul was like ‘no, noodles are carbs; you should be eating meat.’”
May Gao (12) has also begun working out in the past few weeks at ClubSport San Jose Health and Fitness Gym.
“I mainly just warm up with like cardio stairmaster and after that, I just do free weights and the weight machines,” she said.
May goes to the gym three to four times a week and spends one hour when she is alone and two hours when she is with her family. In order to stay within a caloric range, she sometimes uses the MyFitnessPal app to track intake.
“If you put in a lot of work to go to the gym, you don’t want to just counter that by eating unhealthily,” May said.
Rather than aiming to lose weight, May is aiming to be healthier and stronger and to “be able to do pushups properly.”
“I think the whole “flabs for laguna” thing is probably an influencing factor in what got me to look into working out, but now that I am, I just feel better doing it, and it’s not really about my appearance,” she said.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 28, 2017.
